The present invention is directed to the field of riflery. More particularly the present invention is directed to a pellet storage device and loader for an air rifle.
Manipulating pellets to orient them properly and install them into the chamber of an air rifle, given their relatively small size, is a task for smaller fingers than most riflemen have. The task is complicated by having to perform it in the field in various weather and lighting conditions. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pellet loader that can be pre-filled with one or more pellets. The loader will then advance the supply of pellets seriatim from one storage compartment to another without damaging the exterior of the pellet, to a loading chamber where the rifleman uses a transversely extending loader in the form of an ejection rod which pushes the pellet into the firing chamber of the rifle. The end of the ejection rod has a spherically shaped member that engages inside the tail end of the pellet and, as the loader seats the pellet against the forward end of the chamber, the spherically shaped member expands the skirt of the pellet to provide superior engagement with the sidewalls making the muzzle velocity more consistent.
The pellet loader of the present invention is a device for loading pellets in an air rifle, the device comprising: a) a series of storage chambers aligned seriatim, each storage chamber capable of receiving a pellet, said series of storage chambers including a proximal storage chamber and a distal storage chamber; b) advancing means for moving the pellet from one storage chamber in the series of chambers to an adjacent one in the series of storage chambers; c) a loading chamber at a distal end of the series of storage chambers for receiving the pellet from the distal storage chamber; d) a loader for engaging the pellet in the loading chamber and transferring it laterally into an exit chamber where the pellet can be loaded into the air rifle. The series of storage chambers is defined by a first saw-tooth bar and a second saw-tooth bar positioned adjacent the first saw-tooth bar. The first saw-tooth bar is interconnected to the second saw-tooth bar by a first and a second side plate.
Mounting means between the first and second side plate and the first and second saw-tooth bars permits the first and second saw-tooth members to laterally displace one from another while the first and second saw-tooth members translate longitudinally relative to each other. The advancing means is comprised of the second saw-tooth bar translating relative to the first saw-tooth member carrying at least one pellet from a first storage chamber to an adjacent storage chamber. The first and second side plates are arms of a U-shaped housing surrounding the first and second sawtooth members, and spring means is positioned in a bottom portion of the U-shaped housing engaging a lower side of the first sawtooth member and biasing it upwardly into engagement with the second sawtooth member. Cam means causes first and second sawtooth members to separate as the second sawtooth member translates relative to the first sawtooth member to permit passage of the at least one pellet. The cam means engages a laterally extending cam follower positioned in a vertically extending slot, the cam follower being attached to the first sawtooth member, whereby engagement of the cam follower by the cam means forces the first sawtooth member downwardly against the spring means away from the second sawtooth member.
An O-ring is positioned at a juncture between the loading chamber and the exit chamber, the O-ring having an internal dimension smaller than a maximum external dimension of the pellet, retarding an egress of the pellet through the O-ring. The loader comprises an ejection rod having an engagement end with a spherical portion, the spherical portion engaging within an open end of the pellet and broadening a skirt formed on the open end as the engagement end pushes the pellet into a breach portion of an air rifle.
Various other features, advantages, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description.